You Make a Difference Every Day – Try Doing It On Purpose

You make a difference every day, whether you make the conscious decision to or not.

YOU affect other people. And they, in turn affect you.

One of my favorite daydreams is to imagine all of the people who are touched on a daily basis by one single person’s activities, and how far the initial ripple spreads.

It might look like this: John stops for a latte at his favorite coffee shop. While waiting, he strikes up a conversation with Maria, who has spent the night trying to figure out what is wrong with her puppy, Pinky. John just happens to know an Animal Communicator, and is able to pass along the contact information to Maria. Maria then contacts Deanna, who is able to ‘visit’ with Pinky today. John may not realize how that small interaction could not only make a difference right away, but Deanna and Maria could end up developing a lifelong friendship.

John goes about his day having seemingly random interactions with people he meets – at work, as he’s picking up his son from school, at the grocery store, in the neighborhood, and lastly, within his own family. Each one of those people, then came into contact with a handful of other people, and many things are spread – information, energy, [germs], and good will.

Seldom do we pause to consider how just by interacting with others, our existence does make a difference!

A ripple effect is a situation where, like the ever expanding ripples across water when an object is dropped into it, an effect from an initial state can be followed outwards incrementally. ~Wikipedia

We often hear the analogy of a pebble being tossed into a body of water, and I wonder why we settle for the subtle ripples from a pebble?

Why not make a huge splash?

Have you ever stopped to consider how you’d like to change the world?

How would YOU like to make a difference?

How far will your ripples travel?

Imagine the waves you can make when you initiate this ripple effect and you do it on purpose!

Perhaps it’s as simple as having the intention of influencing and affecting other people. Have you ever considered launching a project of good will, just to see how far and how wide your own reach is? If you have, I’d love to hear about it… consider it another ripple and I will help you spread the word, and reach more people.

Make a Difference by Helping Others

If you’d like to participate in a good will project, and measure your ‘ripple effect’, let me recommend one to you.

My friend, Carly, is producing a documentary called ‘Paying It Forward – The Ripple Effect‘ which will help bring awareness to the power each one of us has to make a difference in the world. The focus is on small acts, done with purpose ,and will feature people who have been Paying It Forward with committed efforts, and those who have benefited from someone else’s kindness.

You and I can contribute by purchasing ‘Pay It Forward’ bracelets for $5.00. Each bracelet has its own identification number, which allows you to track your own ripple as the proceeds are donated. You could also gift a bracelet and track the ripple from that gesture![divider_top]

I challenge you as you go about your daily activities, to inject some purposeful intention into your interaction. Give a heartfelt hug, share the information you have, deliver a genuine compliment, participate in random acts of kindness. It doesn’t take much to make a difference.

“We believe in showing you the impact you have made and the lives that your wristband has touched along the way. That’s why each Newton Project wristband contains a unique ID number—registered on our website—to enable tracking through every step of its continuous journey. When you pass a wristband along to someone else, you can share a comment or story on the site expressing your appreciation for that person, as well as:

View the history of a wristband before you received it
Track the recipients and locations of a wristband after it leaves you
Subscribe to auto-notification when your wristband changes hands
Purchase additional Newton Project wristbands”

I hope that helps!
Make donations to help fund this nonprofit organization

In Buddism this is what we call being mindful. Thich Nhat Hanh teaches this on his Peace is Every Step book. I loved reading this book because it tells you how almost every action you take throughout your day, no matter how minute it may be, affects others and is also, many times, a result of someone else’s actions.

If you are mindful, you can often trace these actions like your example, from seemingly inconsequential decisions we make long before these decisions reap their effects. The part that bums me out sometimes if I really think about this is that we will never know how we have altered the course of history just by doing something instead of the other.

Oscar, you get more awesome every day. And just so you know, to me, Social Media measurements represent a tangible effort to understand how we “alter the course of history”. Oh! I just thought up another Blog Post! Thanks for your continued support and inspiration!

I love this article! A couple of things have inspired me to follow in that path. One was the movie “Paying it Forward” which starred Kevin Spacey and another is the quote by Ghandi, which was “be the change you wish to see in the world”. There’s a special feeling when you help and give to others and it’s stronger when you do it unconditionally.

[…] would uplift the evening, make it easier to be the best version of my self, and felt compelled to make a difference in the world. Fast forward several years, and I am, indeed surrounded by the kind of people who […]

[…] My initial reaction was mixed – I felt both flattered and amused at the same time! On one hand, I felt a certain sense of honor that some guy out there on the internet had found something little old me wrote and in my world that seemed to be confirmation that in my own little way, I can make a difference. […]